Organic light emitting diode device and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

An organic light emitting diode device can have an enhanced thin film encapsulation layer for preventing moisture from permeating from the outside. The thin film encapsulation layer can have a multilayered structure in which one or more inorganic layers and one or more organic layers are alternately laminated. A barrier can be formed outside of a portion of the substrate on which the organic light emitting diode is formed. The organic layers of the thin film encapsulation layer can be formed inside an area defined by the barrier.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/215,941, filed Jul. 21, 2016, now U.S Pat No. 9,705,107, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/691,416, filed Apr.20, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,419,247, issued on Aug. 16, 2016, which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/010,296, filed onAug. 26, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,035,291, issued on May 19, 2015,which claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 10-2013-0013832, filed on Feb. 7, 2013 with the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the entire contents of all of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Field

The present disclosure relates to an organic light emitting diode devicewith an improved encapsulation structure for preventing moisture frompermeating from the outside, and a manufacturing method thereof.

Description of the Related Technology

An organic light emitting diode device has a characteristic in which anorganic light emitting diode unit is deteriorated due to permeation ofoxygen or moisture. Accordingly, in order to prevent oxygen or moisturefrom permeating from the outside, an encapsulation structure for sealingand protecting the organic light emitting diode unit is typically used.

As an encapsulation structure, a thin film encapsulation structure whichcovers the organic light emitting diode unit by a multilayer structurein which organic layers and inorganic layers are alternately laminatedhas been widely adopted. The organic light emitting diode unit is sealedby alternately laminating the organic and inorganic layers on theorganic light emitting diode unit of a substrate.

The organic layer serves to give flexibility to a flat panel display,and the inorganic layer serves to prevent oxygen or moisture frompermeating. Accordingly, in order to prevent oxygen or moisture frompermeating from the outside, the organic layers are positioned insideadjacent to the organic light emitting diode unit, and the inorganiclayers are positioned outside the organic light emitting diode unit.

However, the organic layer is formed by curing monomers due to exposureto ultraviolet light or the like after depositing the monomers, and inorder to deposit the monomers, generally, a flash evaporation method hasbeen used. When the evaporated monomers are deposited, some of themonomers flow into a lower part of a mask and thus may be deposited in aregion where deposition is not desired. Since the deposited region is aregion where only the inorganic layer is desired, when the organic layerexists in the region, adhesion is decreased and thus a releasing problemmay occur, and further, permeation of moisture and oxygen from theoutside may be caused and thus a dark-dotted defect may occur.

SUMMARY OF CERTAIN INVENTIVE ASPECTS

The present disclosure has been made in an effort to provide an organiclight emitting diode device including a thin film encapsulation layerhaving enhanced adhesion and preventing moisture and oxygen frompermeating from the outside by forming a barrier which prevents monomersfrom flowing into a lower part of a mask such that deposition isperformed only in a region requiring deposition, and a manufacturingmethod thereof.

One embodiment of the present disclosure provides an organic lightemitting diode device, including: a substrate; an organic light emittingdiode unit formed on a portion of the substrate; and a thin filmencapsulation layer formed to cover the organic light emitting diodeunit, in which the thin film encapsulation layer has a multilayeredstructure in which one or more inorganic layers and one or more organiclayers are alternately laminated, a barrier is formed outside theorganic light emitting diode unit on the portion of the substrate, andthe organic layers of the thin film encapsulation layer are formedinside an area defined the barrier.

The organic light emitting diode unit may include a first electrode, anorganic emission layer, and a second electrode which are sequentiallyformed over the portion of the substrate.

A number of the inorganic layers and the organic layers may be between 2to 20 layers, respectively.

A height of the barrier may be equal to, lower than a height of theorganic layer of the one or more organic layers of the thin filmencapsulation layer located furthest from the organic light emittingdiode unit.

A material forming the barrier may be an organic material or aninorganic material, and in detail, may be an organic material includingone or more of: a photoresist, a polyacrylic resin, a polyimide resin,or an acrylic resin, or an inorganic material including a siliconcompound.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a manufacturingmethod of an organic light emitting diode device, the method including:preparing a substrate; forming an organic light emitting diode unit on aportion of the substrate; forming a barrier spaced apart from theorganic light emitting diode unit on the portion of the substrate; andforming a thin film encapsulation layer so as to cover the organic lightemitting diode unit, in which forming the thin film encapsulation layerincludes forming a plurality of inorganic layers inside an area definedby the barrier.

The forming of the organic light emitting diode unit may include formingan insulating layer on the portion of the substrate; forming a patternof a first electrode on the insulating layer; forming a pixel defininglayer so that the first patterned electrode is partitioned by a pixelunit, forming an organic emission layer on the first electrode; andforming a second electrode on the organic emission layer, in whichforming the barrier may be performed simultaneously with forming thepixel defining layer.

Forming the plurality of inorganic layers and forming the plurality oforganic layers may be alternately performed 2 to 20 times, respectively.

A height of the barrier may be equal to or lower than a height of theinorganic layer of the plurality of inorganic layers located furthestaway from the organic light emitting diode unit.

A material forming the barrier may be an organic material or aninorganic material, and in detail, may be an organic material includingat least one of: a photoresist, a polyacrylic resin, a polyimide resin,or an acrylic resin, or an inorganic material including a siliconcompound.

In the organic light emitting diode device according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure, since deposition is performed only in a regionrequiring deposition by forming a barrier to prevent monomers fromflowing into a lower part of a mask, it is possible to improve adhesionand prevent moisture and oxygen from permeating from the outside.

Further, since a dead space is decreased and improved during a productdesign by performing the deposition only in a region requiringdeposition, it is advantageous to reinforce product competitiveness.

Furthermore, since the barrier according to the present disclosure maybe formed by the same material and the same mask as those used when thepixel defining layer is formed, an additional process and an additionalmaterial are not be required.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a structureof an organic light emitting diode device.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an organic light emittingdiode unit of the organic light emitting diode device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for describing a structure of an emissionspace and a dead space in the organic light emitting diode device.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a structureof the organic light emitting diode device according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an organic light emittingdiode unit of the organic light emitting diode device according to theembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for describing a shape of a barrieraccording to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for describing an organic light emittingdiode device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for describing a shape of a barrieraccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a structureof the organic light emitting diode device according to yet anotherembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an organic light emittingdiode unit of the organic light emitting diode device according to yetanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram for describing a shape of a barrieraccording to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN INVENTIVE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, certain embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Although the present disclosure can be modified and implemented byseveral embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and will be mainly described in the specification.However, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to thespecific embodiments, and it should be understood that all the changes,equivalents, and substitutions included in the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure are included in the scope of the present disclosure.

Terms used in the present disclosure are selected from normal termswhich are widely used presently, but in some cases, a term which isarbitrarily selected by an applicant exists, and in this case, a meaningthereof should be understood by considering the meaning disclosed orused in the description of the present disclosure.

Parts which are not associated with the description are omitted in orderto specifically describe the present disclosure and like referencenumerals generally refer to like elements throughout the specification.Further, in the drawings, a size, and a thickness of each element arearbitrarily illustrated for convenience of description, and the presentdisclosure is not necessarily limited to those illustrated in thedrawings.

In the drawings, the thicknesses of layers and regions are enlarged forclarity. In the drawings, the thicknesses of some layers and regions maybe exaggerated for convenience of description. It will be understoodthat when an element such as a layer, film, region, or substrate isreferred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on theother element or intervening elements may also be present.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a structureof an organic light emitting diode device.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, an organic light emitting diode deviceincludes a substrate 10; an organic light emitting diode unit 20 formedon the substrate; and a thin film encapsulation layer 30 formed to coverthe organic light emitting diode unit.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the organic light emitting diode unit 20 has astructure in which an insulating layer 21, a first electrode 22, a pixeldefining layer 23, an emission layer 24, and a second electrode (notillustrated) are sequentially formed on the substrate 10. Further, theorganic light emitting diode device may be divided into an emissionspace E and a dead space D, as briefly illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the thin film encapsulation layer 30 has astructure in which inorganic layers 31 and 33 and an organic layer 32are alternately laminated.

The organic layer 32 mainly serves to give flexibility to a flat paneldisplay, and the inorganic layers 31 and 33 serve to prevent oxygen ormoisture from permeating therein. Accordingly, in order to preventoxygen or moisture from permeating from the outside, the organic layer32 is positioned at the inside adjacent to the organic light emittingdiode unit, and the inorganic layers 31 and 33 are positioned outsidethe organic light emitting diode unit.

However, the organic layer 32 is formed by curing monomers by exposureto ultraviolet light or the like after depositing the monomers, and inorder to deposit the monomers, generally, a flash evaporation method hasbeen used. When the evaporated monomers are deposited, some of themonomers flow into a lower part of a mask and thus some of the monomers32′ may be deposited in a region where the deposition is not desired.Since the deposited region is a region where only the inorganic layers31 and 33 are desired, when the organic layer 32 exists in the region,adhesion is decreased and thus a releasing problem may occur, andfurther, permeation of moisture and oxygen from the outside may becaused and thus a dark-dotted defect may occur.

In order to address these problems, the present disclosure provides anorganic light emitting diode device including a thin film encapsulationlayer having enhanced adhesion and preventing moisture and oxygen frompermeating from the outside by forming a barrier which prevents monomersfrom flowing into a lower part of a mask such that deposition isperformed only in a region requiring deposition, and a manufacturingmethod thereof.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating an organiclight emitting diode device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, an organic light emitting diode deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes asubstrate 100; an organic light emitting diode unit 200 formed on thesubstrate; and a thin film encapsulation layer 300 formed to cover theorganic light emitting diode unit, in which the thin film encapsulationlayer 300 has a multilayer structure in which one or more inorganiclayers 310 and 330 and at least one organic layer 320 are alternatelylaminated. The organic light emitting diode device also includes abarrier 400 formed to be spaced apart from the organic light emittingdiode unit 200, outside the organic light emitting diode unit 200 on thesubstrate 100, and the organic layer 320 of the thin film encapsulationlayer 300 is formed inside the barrier 400.

The substrate 100 may be a glass substrate or a transparent plasticsubstrate which has excellent mechanical strength, thermal stability,transparency, surface smoothness, handleability, and water repellency.Although not illustrated in FIG. 4, the substrate 100 may be variouslymodified, and for example, a planarization layer, an insulating layer,and the like may be further provided on the substrate 100.

Referring to FIG. 5, the organic light emitting diode unit 200 isprovided on the substrate 100. The organic light emitting diode unit 200includes an insulating layer 210, a first electrode 220, a pixeldefining layer 230, an organic emission layer 240, and a secondelectrode (not illustrated) which are sequentially formed.

Further, in FIG. 5, for simplifying the description, a semiconductordevice is not separately illustrated but omitted, but the semiconductordevice may be disposed between the substrate 100 and the insulatinglayer 210. An example of the semiconductor device includes a thin filmtransistor (TFT) including a gate electrode, a source electrode, and adrain electrode.

In the case where the first electrode is a positive electrode, the firstelectrode 220 may be electrically connected with the drain electrode ofthe thin film transistor (TFT). The semiconductor device may be formedby a general method of forming the thin film transistor. Accordingly,the description for a detailed method of forming the semiconductordevice or the thin film transistor is omitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the insulating layer 210 is disposed on thesubstrate 100.

In the case where lower structures including a switching element, acontact, a pad, a plug, an electrode, a conductive pattern, aninsulation pattern, and the like are provided on the substrate, theinsulating layer 210 may have a thickness sufficient enough to cover thelower structures.

The insulating layer 210 may be formed in a single structure, but may beformed in a multilayer structure including two or more insulatinglayers.

In order to improve the degree of planarization of the insulating layer210 formed on the substrate, a planarization process may be performed onthe substrate. For example, the substrate may have a flat upper surfaceby applying a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, an etch-backprocess, and the like onto the substrate.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the insulatinglayer 210 may contain an organic material. For example, the insulatinglayer 210 may contain a material selected from a photoresist, an acrylicpolymer, a polyimide polymer, a polyamide polymer, a siloxane polymer, apolymer containing a photosensitive acryl carboxyl group, a novolacresin, or an alkali developable resin. These materials may be usedeither alone or in combination thereof.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, theinsulating layer may be formed by using an inorganic material such as asilicon compound, metal, or metal oxide. For example, the insulatinglayer 210 may contain a material selected from silicon oxide (SiOx),silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy), silicon oxycarbide(SiOxCy), silicon carbonitride (SiCxNy), aluminum (Al), magnesium (Mg),zinc (Zn), hafnium (Hf), zirconium (Zr), titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta),aluminum oxide (AlOx), titanium oxide (TiOx), tantalum oxide (TaOx),magnesium oxide (MgOx), zinc oxide (ZnOx), hafnium oxide (HfOx),zirconium oxide (ZrOx), and titanium oxide (TiOx). These materials maybe used either alone or in combination thereof.

The insulating layer 210 may be formed on the substrate by using a spincoating process, a printing process, a sputtering process, a chemicalvapor deposition (CVD) process, an atomic layer deposition (ALD)process, a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process, ahigh density plasma-chemical vapor deposition (HDP-CVD) process, avacuum deposition process, and the like, according to a constituentmaterial.

The first electrode is formed on the insulating layer 210. The firstelectrode 220 may be formed by using a vacuum deposition method, asputtering method, or the like, and may be a cathode or an anode. Thefirst electrode 220 may be a transparent electrode, a transluscentelectrode, or a reflective electrode and may be formed by using indiumtin oxide (ITO), zinc indium oxide (IZO), tin oxide (SnO₂), zinc oxide(ZnO), Al, Ag, Mg and the like, but is not limited thereto. Further, thefirst electrode 220 may be variously modified, and for example, may havea structure having two or more layers by using two or more differentmaterials.

Next, the pixel defining layer 230 is formed on the insulating layer 210and the first electrode 220. The pixel defining layer 230 may be formedby using an organic material, an inorganic material, and the like. Forexample, the pixel defining layer 230 may contain a material selectedfrom an organic material such as photoresist, a polyacryl-based resin, apolyimide-based resin, and an acryl-based resin, or an inorganicmaterial such as a silicon compound.

The second electrode (not illustrated) may be formed by using a vacuumdeposition method, a sputtering method, or the like, and may be acathode or an anode. Metal for forming the second electrode may usemetal having a low work function, an alloy, an electrically conductivecompound, and a mixture thereof. A detailed example of the metal mayinclude lithium (Li), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al), aluminum-lithium(Al—Li), calcium (Ca), magnesium-indium (Mg—In), magnesium-silver(Mg—Ag) and the like. Further, the second electrode may be variouslymodified, and for example, may have a structure having two or morelayers by using two or more different materials.

The organic emission layer 240 is provided between the first electrode210 and the second electrode (not illustrated). The organic emissionlayer 240 may include a known light emitting material. For example, thelight emitting material may contain a known host such as Alq₃,4,4′-N,N′-dicarbazole-biphenyl (CBP), poly(n-vinylcarbazole) (PVK), anddistyrylarylene (DSA), and a known dopant such as a red dopant, such asPtOEP, Ir(piq)₃, Btp₂Ir(acac), and DCJTB, a green dopant, such asIr(ppy)₃(ppy=phenylperidine), Ir(ppy)₂(acac), and Ir(mpyp)₃, a bluedopant, such as F₂Irpic, (F₂ppy)₂Ir(tmd), Ir(dfppz)₃, and ter-fluorene,but is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, although not illustrated in detail in FIG. 5, one or morelayers selected from a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, ahole stop layer, an electron transport layer and an electron injectionlayer in addition to the organic emission layer 240 may be furtherincluded between the first electrode 210 and the second electrode. Thehole injection layer, the hole transport layer, the electron transportlayer and the electron injection layer may be formed by using knownmaterials and known methods.

Referring to FIG. 4, the thin film encapsulation layer 300 is providedto cover the organic light emitting diode unit 200 and includes a firstinorganic layer 310, a first organic layer 320, and a second inorganiclayer 330.

The thin film encapsulation layer 300 may be formed in a multilayerstructure in which the inorganic layers and the organic layers arealternately laminated with 2 to 20 layers, respectively, but therespective numbers of organic layers and inorganic layers are notlimited thereto.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the barrier 400 is formed to be spaced apartfrom the organic light emitting diode unit 200, outside the organiclight emitting diode unit 200 on the substrate 100.

The barrier 400 is spaced apart from the organic light emitting diodeunit 200 to be formed in the dead space D, and the organic layer 320 ofthe thin film encapsulation layer 300 is formed inside the barrier sothat the monomers for forming the organic layer may be deposited only ina desired place.

The barrier 400 is formed when the pixel defining layer 230 is formed.Accordingly, an additional manufacturing of a separate mask is notrequired, and a material for forming the barrier 400 may be the same asthe material for forming the pixel defining layer 230. The material forforming the barrier 400 may contain a material selected from an organicmaterial such as a photoresist, a polyacryl-based resin, apolyimide-based resin, and an acryl-based resin or an inorganic materialsuch as a silicon compound.

According to the present disclosure, the barrier 400 may be formedwithout any specific limit on a position, a shape, a size, and a number.

The barrier 400 may be disposed at any position in the dead space D, butmay be positioned near the emission space E in order to improve the deadspace D. Further, the shape of the barrier 400 may be formed in adesired shape such as a quadrangle, a circle, a triangle, and the like.

With respect to the size of the barrier 400, a height may be a thin filmthickness or less because of being influenced by a thickness of the thinfilm, and a width may be a width of the dead space D or less because ofbeing influenced by the dead space D.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the height of thebarrier 400 may be equal to, lower than, or higher than a height of atop organic layer of the thin film encapsulation layer 300. Further,according to another embodiment, the height of the barrier 400 may beequal to or lower than a height of a top inorganic layer of the thinfilm encapsulation layer 300.

Further, the barrier 400 may be formed at four sides, two sides, or adesired position, because the barrier 400 is formed only by performingpatterning on a pixel defining layer mask in a desired shape.

FIGS. 4 and 5 correspond to an example of a structure in which a singlebarrier 400 is formed in the dead space D and have a structure in whichthe barrier 400 is formed as the single barrier 400 at four sides, asillustrated in FIG. 6. In FIG. 4, the inorganic layers and the organiclayer are alternately laminated one by one, but the number of inorganiclayers and organic layers may be in plural. The height of the barrier400 is controlled according to the number of layers.

As described above, examples of the thin film encapsulation layer formedby alternately laminating the organic layers and the inorganic layerswith several layers and the barrier of which the height is controlledaccording to the number of layers are illustrated in FIG. 7.

The encapsulation layer 300 of the organic light emitting diode deviceillustrated in FIG. 7 includes a first inorganic layer 310, a firstorganic layer 320, a second inorganic layer 330, a second organic layer340, and a third inorganic layer 350. In FIG. 7, the encapsulation layer300 including the three inorganic layers and the two organic layers isillustrated as an example, but the organic light emitting diode deviceaccording to the present disclosure may include an encapsulation layerin which organic layers and inorganic layers are alternately laminatedwith more or fewer layers.

In FIG. 7, a first organic material forming the first organic layer 320and a second organic material forming the second organic layer 340 maybe the same as or different from each other. For convenience ofdescription, herein, the first organic material forming the firstorganic layer 320 is described as an example, but other organic layersforming the encapsulation layer 300 may be made of the followingarranged organic materials.

The first organic material forming the first organic layer 320 mayinclude one or more materials selected from a group consisting of anacrylic resin, a methacrylic resin, polyisoprene, a vinyl resin, anepoxy resin, a urethane resin, a cellulose resin, a perylene resin, andother polymer materials.

An example of the acrylic resin includes butyl acrylate, ethylhexylacrylate or the like, an example of the methacrylic resin includespropylene glycol methacrylate, tetra-hydroperfuryl methacrylate or thelike, an example of the vinyl resin includes vinylacetate,N-vinylpyrrolidone or the like, an example of the epoxy resin includescycloaliphatic epoxide, epoxy acrylate, vinyl epoxy-based resin or thelike, an example of the urethane resin includes urethane acrylate or thelike, and an example of the cellulose resin includes cellulose nitrateor the like, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Similarly, a first inorganic material forming the first inorganic layer310, a second inorganic material forming the second inorganic layer 330,and a third inorganic material forming the third inorganic layer 350 maybe the same as or different from each other. For convenience ofdescription, the inorganic material forming the first inorganic layer310 is described as an example, but other inorganic layers forming theencapsulation layer 300 may be made of the following arranged inorganicmaterials.

The first inorganic material forming the first inorganic layer 310 maybe one or more materials selected from a group consisting of siliconnitride, aluminum nitride, zirconium nitride, titanium nitride, hafniumnitride, tantalum nitride, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, titaniumoxide, tin oxide, cerium oxide, and silicon oxynitride (SiON).

FIG. 8 illustrates another embodiment of the present disclosure in whichthe barrier 400 has a dotted-line shape. As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and5, the barrier is formed by a single barrier on four sides, and anexample of a structure formed in a dotted-line shape is illustrated inFIG. 8.

In FIGS. 6 and 8, examples, in which the barriers 400 are formed assingle barriers having a straight line shape and a dotted-line shape,respectively, are illustrated, but as described above, the shape of thebarrier 400 may be formed in various shapes such as a circle, aquadrangle, a triangle, and the like.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a structure of the organic lightemitting diode device according to yet another embodiment of the presentdisclosure, in which the number of barriers 400 is two.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, two barriers 400 may be formed. The twobarriers are formed when the organic light emitting diode unit 200 isformed when the pixel defining layer 230 is formed. Thereafter, thefirst inorganic layer 310 of the thin film encapsulation layer 300 isformed to cover the organic light emitting diode unit 200, and the firstinorganic layer 310 is deposited throughout the upper side of thesubstrate 100 except for the barriers 400. Next, the first organic layer320 is formed inside one of the two barriers formed closer to theemission space E, and the second inorganic layer 330 is formed to coverthe first organic layer 320 and the two barriers 400.

As illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11, the organic light emitting diodedevice according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosureincludes the two barriers 400 formed in the dead space D. Two barriersare illustrated as an example, but the number of barriers is notparticularly limited, and can be within a range which does not exceed awidth of the dead space D.

The double barriers 400 illustrated in FIG. 11 are formed in a straightline shape, but the double barriers may have a dotted line shape asillustrated in FIG. 8 and may be formed in various shapes such as acircle, a triangle, and the like.

An embodiment of a manufacturing method of the organic light emittingdiode device according to the present disclosure includes preparing asubstrate; forming an organic light emitting diode unit on thesubstrate; forming a barrier so as to be spaced apart from the diodeunit, outside the organic light emitting diode unit on the substrate;and forming a thin film encapsulation layer so as to cover the organiclight emitting diode unit, in which the forming of the thin filmencapsulation layer includes forming inorganic layers; and formingorganic layers, and in the forming of the organic layers, the organiclayers are formed inside the barrier.

The manufacturing method of the organic light emitting diode deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedbelow in more detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, the organic light emitting diode unit 200 is formed on thesubstrate 100.

The forming of the organic light emitting diode unit 200 includesforming an insulating layer 210 on the substrate 100; forming a patternof a first electrode 220 on the insulating layer; forming a pixeldefining layer 230 so that the first patterned electrode is partitionedby a pixel unit; forming an organic emission layer 240 on the firstelectrode partitioned by the pixel unit; and forming a second electrode(not illustrated) on the organic emission layer.

A method of forming the first electrode 220, the organic emission layer240 and the second electrode (not illustrated) of the organic lightemitting diode unit 200 may be performed, for example, by usingdeposition, sputtering, and coating methods. One or more of a holeinjection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron transport layer andan electron injection layer may be formed in addition to the organicemission layer 240 between the first electrode 210 and the secondelectrode (not illustrated).

According to the present disclosure, the forming of the barrier 400 isperformed simultaneously with the forming of the pixel defining layer230.

The barrier 400 may be formed without requiring an additionalmanufacturing process of a separate mask, and this is because thebarrier 400 is formed by adding patterning for the barrier in the deadspace when the mask for forming the pixel defining layer ismanufactured.

The barrier 400 may be formed by using the same material as the materialfor forming the pixel defining layer 230. The material for forming thebarrier 400 may contain a material selected from an organic materialsuch as a photoresist, a polyacryl-based resin, a polyimide-based resin,and an acryl-based resin, or an inorganic material such as a siliconcompound.

The barrier 400 may be formed without any specific limit on a position,a shape, a size, and a number. The barrier 400 may be disposed at anyposition in the dead space D, but may be positioned near the emissionspace E in order to improve the dead space D. Further, the shape of thebarrier 400 may be formed in a desired shape such as a quadrangle, acircle, a triangle, and the like.

With respect to the size of the barrier 400, a height may be a thin filmthickness or less because of being influenced by a thickness of the thinfilm, and a width may be a width of the dead space D or less because ofbeing influenced by the dead space D.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the height of thebarrier 400 may be equal to, lower than, or higher than a height of atop organic layer of the thin film encapsulation layer 300. Further,according to another embodiment, the height of the barrier 400 may beequal to or lower than a height of a top inorganic layer of the thinfilm encapsulation layer 300.

After forming the organic light emitting diode unit 200 on the substrate100, the thin film encapsulation layer 300 is formed so as to cover theorganic light emitting diode unit 200. The forming of the thin filmencapsulation layer 300 includes forming inorganic layers; and formingorganic layers, and a thin film encapsulation layer having amultilayered structure may be formed by alternately performing theforming of the inorganic and organic layers 2 to 20 times.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a first inorganic layer 310 is formed so as tocover the organic light emitting diode unit 200 on the substrate 100with the organic light emitting diode unit 200. The first inorganiclayer 310 is formed by performing deposition throughout the substrate100 except for the position of the barrier 400.

A material forming the first inorganic layer 310 may be one or morematerials selected from a group consisting of silicon nitride, aluminumnitride, zirconium nitride, titanium nitride, hafnium nitride, tantalumnitride, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, tin oxide,cerium oxide, and silicon oxynitride (SiON).

Thereafter, a first organic layer 320 and a second inorganic layer 330are sequentially formed on the first inorganic layer 310.

A material forming the first organic layer 320 may include one or morematerials selected from a group consisting of an acrylic resin, amethacrylic resin, polyisoprene, a vinyl resin, an epoxy resin, aurethane resin, a cellulose resin, a perylene resin, and other polymermaterials.

An example of the acrylic resin includes butyl acrylate, ethylhexylacrylate or the like, an example of the methacrylic resin includespropylene glycol methacrylate, tetra-hydroperfuryl methacrylate or thelike, an example of the vinyl resin includes vinylacetate,N-vinylpyrrolidone or the like, an example of the epoxy resin includescycloaliphatic epoxide, epoxy acrylate, vinyl epoxy-based resin or thelike, an example of the urethane resin includes urethane acrylate or thelike, and an example of the cellulose resin includes cellulose nitrateor the like, but the material forming the first organic layer 320 is notlimited thereto.

The organic layer 320 is formed by depositing monomers and formed at theinside based on the barrier 400. As such, the organic layer is formed bydepositing the monomers only at a portion requiring deposition by thebarrier 400, and as a result, it is possible to prevent problems in thatthe monomers flow into the region where the inorganic layers are formedto deteriorate adhesion and cause a dark-dotted defect.

The material and the method of forming the second inorganic layer 330may be applied equally to those of the first inorganic layer 310described above and refer to those described above.

In FIG. 4, an example of additionally forming the first organic layer320 and the second inorganic layer 330 on the first inorganic layer 310is illustrated, but the forming of the inorganic layers and the formingof the organic layers are alternately performed 2 to 20 times to form athin film encapsulation layer laminated with multilayered organic andinorganic layers.

As described above, examples of the thin film encapsulation layer 300formed by alternately repeating the forming of the inorganic layers andthe forming of the organic layers several times and the barrier 400formed by controlling a height according to the thin film encapsulationlayer are illustrated in FIG. 7.

The encapsulation layer 300 of the organic light emitting diode deviceillustrated in FIG. 7 includes a first inorganic layer 310, a firstorganic layer 320, a second inorganic layer 330, a second organic layer340, and a third inorganic layer 350. Further, the barrier 400 of theorganic light emitting diode device illustrated in FIG. 7 may be formedto be controlled to have the same height as the second organic layer340.

In FIG. 7, the encapsulation layer 300 including the three inorganiclayers and the two organic layers is illustrated as an example, but theorganic light emitting diode device according to the present disclosuremay include an encapsulation layer in which organic layers and inorganiclayers are alternately laminated with more or fewer layers. Further, theheight of the barrier 400 may be equal to or lower than the height ofthe third inorganic layer 350 which is a top inorganic layer of the thinfilm encapsulation layer 300, and may be equal to or higher than theheight of the second organic layer 340 which is a top organic layer ofthe thin film encapsulation layer 300.

As described above, the organic light emitting diode device according tothe present disclosure includes the barrier formed simultaneously in theforming of the pixel defining layer, and as a result, it is possible toimprove adhesion and prevent moisture and oxygen from permeating fromthe outside without an additional separate cost caused by adding aprocess, a mask, and a material.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments ofthe present disclosure have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, and that various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intendedto be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An organic light emitting diode device,comprising: a substrate; an organic light emitting diode unit on thesubstrate, the organic light emitting diode unit comprises an insulatinglayer disposed on the substrate, a first electrode disposed on theinsulating layer, an organic emission layer and a second electrode; afirst barrier disposed on the substrate and spaced apart from theinsulating layer in a plan view; and a thin film encapsulation layerdisposed on the organic light emitting diode unit, wherein the thin filmencapsulation layer comprises an organic layer on the organic lightemitting diode unit and a first inorganic layer on the organic layer,and wherein the organic layer is disposed in an area defined by thefirst barrier, and the first inorganic layer is disposed on the organiclayer and overlaps with the first barrier.
 2. The organic light emittingdiode device of claim 1, wherein the thin film encapsulation layer has amultilayered structure in which one or more inorganic layers and one ormore organic layers are alternately disposed.
 3. The organic lightemitting diode device of claim 1, further comprising a second barrierdisposed outside the area defined by the first barrier.
 4. The organiclight emitting diode device of claim 3, further comprising a pixeldefining layer disposed inside the area defined by the first barrier,wherein the second barrier has a same material as the pixel defininglayer.
 5. The organic light emitting diode device of claim 3, whereinthe second barrier comprises at least one material selected from anorganic material comprising at least one of a photoresist, apolyacryl-based resin, a polyimide-based resin and an acryl-based resinand an inorganic material comprising a silicon compound.
 6. The organiclight emitting diode device of claim 3, wherein the first barrierdirectly contacts with the substrate.
 7. The organic light emittingdiode device of claim 1, wherein the first barrier has a dotted-lineshape.
 8. The organic light emitting diode device of claim 1, furthercomprising a pixel defining layer disposed inside the area defined bythe first barrier.
 9. The organic light emitting diode device of claim8, wherein the first barrier has a same material as the pixel defininglayer.
 10. The organic light emitting diode device of claim 1, whereinthe first barrier comprises at least one material selected from anorganic material comprising a photoresist, a polyacryl-based resin, apolyimide-based resin and an acryl-based resin and an inorganic materialcomprising a silicon compound.
 11. The organic light emitting diodedevice of claim 1, wherein the thin film encapsulation layer furthercomprises a second inorganic layer between the organic light emittingdiode unit and the organic layer.
 12. The organic light emitting diodedevice of claim 11, wherein the first inorganic layer and the secondinorganic layer directly contact with each other outside the areadefined by the first barrier.
 13. The organic light emitting diodedevice of claim 11, wherein the first inorganic layer and the secondinorganic layer directly contact with each other inside the area definedby the first barrier.
 14. The organic light emitting diode device ofclaim 11, wherein the second inorganic layer contacts with an insidesurface of the first barrier facing the organic light emitting diodeunit.
 15. The organic light emitting diode device of claim 11, furthercomprising a second barrier disposed outside the area defined by thefirst barrier.
 16. The organic light emitting diode device of claim 15,wherein the first inorganic layer and the second inorganic layerdirectly contact with each other between the first barrier and thesecond barrier.
 17. The organic light emitting diode device of claim 1,further comprising a thin film transistor disposed between the substrateand the insulating layer, the thin film transistor comprising a gateelectrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode.
 18. The organiclight emitting diode device of claim 17, wherein the insulating layerdisposed on the thin film transistor has a flat upper surface.
 19. Theorganic light emitting diode device of claim 1, wherein the firstbarrier directly contacts with the substrate.
 20. The organic lightemitting diode device of claim 19, wherein the substrate comprises lowerstructures including at least one of a switching element, a contact, apad, a plug, an electrode, a conductive pattern, and an insulationpattern.
 21. The organic light emitting diode device of claim 1, whereinthe first barrier is not overlapping with the insulating layer.
 22. Theorganic light emitting diode device of claim 1, wherein the insulatinglayer comprises an organic material.
 23. The organic light emittingdiode device of claim 22, wherein a layer having the organic material isnot disposed between the first barrier and the substrate.
 24. Theorganic light emitting diode device of claim 22, wherein the organicmaterial comprises at least one of a photoresist, an acrylic polymer, apolyimide polymer, a polyamide polymer, a siloxane polymer, a polymercontaining a photosensitive acryl carboxyl group, a novolac resin, andan alkali developable resin.
 25. The organic light emitting diode deviceof claim 1, wherein the organic light emitting diode unit furthercomprises a pixel defining layer directly on the insulating layer. 26.The organic light emitting diode device of claim 1, wherein a layerhaving a same material as the insulating layer is not disposed betweenthe first barrier and the substrate in a plan view.